Metallurgical furnace.



N0. 803,337. PATENTED OCT. 31, 1905. H. H. GOODSBLL.

METALLURGICAL FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED IEB.25,1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1. \Q h No. 803,337. PATENTED OCT. 31, 1905. H. H.GOODSELL.

METALLURGICAL FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED IEB. 25,1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1 i s I WITNESSES. I I INVENTOR $22M JfwZ/flgmse 81' Wm WM W ATTORNE Y8I PATENTED OCT. 31, 1905. OODSELL. GIUAL FURNACE.

ILED P H. H. G METALLUR APPLICATION m 0 m I 5. 2. MM. K I H IN I I m r,

wN g r PH]... 1 IIIIIHQQ 0 8 0 my E II IIIIIIIIIIIIIII.II'IIIH HN@@@w@@@@@@@@ QN QM N M T T AH UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

METALLURGICAL FURNACE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1905.

Application filed February 25, 1905. Serial No 247,259.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY HOMER G001)- SELL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Leechburg, in the county of Armstrong andState of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved MetallurgicalFurnace, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to furnaces used for treating iron and steel, butmore particularly to an improved type of furnace having certain featuresin common with my application, Serial No. 218,633, filed July 29, 1904,and allowed November 17, 1904, for afurnace for treating sheet iron andsteel.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of referenceindicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical section through the furnace, takenupon the line 1 1 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig.2 is a vertical crossssection through the furnace, taken upon the line 22 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3 is afragmentary vertical longitudinal sec tion taken in the same plane asFig. l, but showing the front portion of the furnace. Fig. 4 is afragmentary elevation of the door through which the plates are fed intothe furnace. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the baffleplate, and Fig. 6 is asection on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow.

My improved furnace employs what I call a bluing-chamber 4, superposedover a heating-flue 5, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3.

. A cooling-chamber 6 is located at the rear of heating-flue 5.

the bluing-chamber and is heated from the The base 7, made, preferably,of any refractory material, is provided with passages 8, 9, and 10,connected serially and together constituting a pair of air-flues. Thepassage 8 at the rear end of the furnace and the passage 10 at the frontend thereof both terminate in the heating-flue 5, the passage 8delivering the heat into this fine at an elevation somewhat higher thanthat at which it was received from the flue by the passage 10. Thepurpose of this arrangement is to cause different portions of thefurnace to expand and contract equally. Were it not for this provisionthose parts in immediatecontact with the flames would expand morerapidly than the parts remote from the flames; but by having the heatedgases pass out directly into the walls of the furnace this difficulty isobviated, as will be understood from Figs. 2 and 3. The base 7 is alsoprovided with passages 11, which extend from the heating-flue 5 to theouter atmosphere. These passages may be used for admitting natural gasto the heating-flue 5, in which event the heating-flue serves to admixthe gas with the air arriving through the air-fines. In case natural gasis not used the passages 11 may be either closed or left open, asdesired. If left open, they serve as air-ducts for supplying smallquantities of air to the heating-flue 5. If desired,

the smoke and gases from an ordinary coalburning stove or furnace of anykind may be directed into the front end of the heatingflue 5 and carriedback through this fine, so as to furnish the required degree of heat. Aground-plate 12, preferably quite thick, rests upon metallic plates 13,which are supported upon the base 7. Mounted upon the plates 13 areI-beams 14 15, disposed parallel with each other, as indicated in Fig.2. The outer I-beams 15 are provided with stuffing-boxes 16 and at theirfront ends abut against the wall 17. Pillow-blocks 18 support a numberof rollers 19 and 31, the rollers 19 being disposed within thebluingchamber and provided with water-receptacles 20, made by renderingthe ends of the rollers tubular. ater is supplied to the receptacles 20by means of nozzles 21 22, which are connected with water pipes 23 forsupplying the water. Troughs 24 25 are disposed adjacent to the outerends of the rollers 19 and serve to catch and convey away the heatedwater which may flow from the rollers. Pillow-blocks 26 may be mounteddirectly in the trough 25, as indicated in Fig. 2.

Mounted upon the I-beams 14 15 are metallic plates 27, connectedtogether by archplates 28. The arch-plates abut against each other, soas to form a continuous series, as indicated in Fig. 3. A fireproofcovering 29, made, preferably, of asbestos, may be placed upon thebluing-chamber, as shown. The rollers 31 do not differ materially fromthe rollers 19 except that being outside of the bluing-chamber, andconsequently not being subjected to high degrees of heat, it is notnecessary to provide them with the water jackets or receptacles 20. Thebluing-chamher 4 is provided with sliding doors 32, (see Fig. 4,)arranged in a slideway 33 and adapted to move apart, so as to leave apassage 34. through which may be inserted the metallic plates to beoperated upon. A chimney or smoke-stack is provided for the purpose ofcarrying away the gases of combustion which pass out of the heating-flue5. A side passage is provided in the front end of the furnace,preferably below the plates 13, so as to form an entrance for the heatedair and gases should. it be preferred to use them and also to allowaccess to the heating-flue 5. A tubular member 36 pierces the front wall17 and is provided with a glass disk 37, thus constituting a peep-holethrough which observations may be made from the outside. A funnel 38opens downwardly toward the rollars 31 and is used for conveying awaythe heated air and steam which may chance to accumulate in the regionimmediately in front of the wall 17. Of course the draft through thefunnel may be forced, if desired, in any manner wellknown in the art.The top of the bluing-chamber is provided with manholes 39, which arecovered by closure members 40, of fireproof material, preferablyasbestos.

The cooling-chamber 6 consists of a pan 41, provided with pipes 42 43,used, respectively, for filling the pan 41 with water and for allowingany excess thereof to pass off without an overflow. Over the pan is atop 45, provided with an opening covered by closure 45, and is alsoprovided with a shield 46 and with a flange 47, connected-upon the rearend of the bluing-chamber. Mounted upon a bracket 48, carried by theshield 46, are rollers 49, suitably geared together.

The rollers 19 are provided at one end with a collar 50 and with abevel-gear 51, which engages another bevel-gear 52, mounted upon alongitudinal shaft 53 or 53. (See Figs. 1 and 2.) A number of rollers 54are mounted in the pan 41 and arranged in the arc of a circle, asindicated in Fig. 1, these rollers being propelled by sprocket-gearing55, actuated by the shaft 53, through the medium of a bevelgear 56. Theshafts 53 and 53 are driven by any suitable motor mechanism and areturned in such direction that the upper parts of the rollers move towardthe rear of the furnace or in the opposite direction, according to theparticular purpose for which the furnace is used. Within the pan 41 is aliquid 44, which may be oil, water, or any other liquid used forpurposes of cooling or otherwise treating the plates. WVith theconstruction above described 1 preferably employ water, but, as will beseen below, it is sometimes desirable to use oil or even other liquids.The passages 9 are preferably a little nearer together than are theT-beams 15, as will be understood from Fig. 2. My purpose in so placingthe T-beams is to enable them to vaporize any water which may condenseupon the ends of the rollers 19, due to the chilling effect of thecooling-passages 20. In other words, should steam condense upon the endsof the rollers 19 and in the form of water run down upon the plates 13 Idesire to heat these plates so that the water will be immediatelyreoonverted into steam.

My purpose in gearing together a plurality of the rollers 49 in the rearof the coolingchambers is based upon my discovery that when plates enterthe liquid 44 they tend to produce vapor which buoys them up, causingthem to float. The rollers 49 tend to prevent the plates from movingimproperly, because should they have any tendency to float they willstrike some one of these rollers, and thus be guided back into position.

A by-pass flue 57 is disposed within the wall 7 and is provided with anend 58, which merges into the heating-flue 5. The other end of theby-pass flue terminates in a doorway 59, closed by a door 60, the latterbeing operated by means of a hand-lever 60. Mounted at the back of theheating-flue 5, preferably at a point near the pan 41, is a door vay 61,closed by a door 62, having the form of a butterflyvalve and operated bymeans of a hand-level:

63. Farther back in the furnace immediately to the rear of the pan 41 isanother doorway 64, closed by a door 65, having also the form of abutterfly-valve and operated by means of a hand-lever 66. It will thusbe seen that the doors 60, 62, and 65 may be opened and closedindependently of each other. A number of air-holes 67 are providedimmediately adjacent to the pan 41, and mounted within these airholesare dampers 68, which may be used for closing and opening the holes 67at pleasure.

My invention is used as follows: The plates ofiron or steel to beoperated upon are usually placed upon the rollers 31 at the front end ofthe furnace. This may be done in any approved manner, but preferably bymeans of a truck which I have specially constructed for the purpose. Ifwater is employed in the pan 41, its vapor in the form of steam passesinto the cooling-chamber 6. The temperature of this steam at firstapproximates the boilingpoint of water-to wit, 212 Fahrenheit. The steamin passing from the cooling-chamber into the bluing-chamber is graduallyraised to a higher and higher temperature as it approaches the front endof the furnace. ln the extreme front end of the bluing-chamber the steamcarries a temperature of 900 to 1,600 Fahrenheit. At the highertemperature just mentioned the steam first rapidly heats the plates to adull cherry-red. The incandescence gradually dies down as the plates aremoved along. When the plates arrive at the cooling-chamber they are of atemperature not much higher than 212 Fahrenheit. They then pass throughthe water 44 and back toward the chimney, resting upon the rollers, fromwhich they may be removed. The passage of the plates through the waterinsures their coolingvto a point at which the atmosphere does notreadily attack them.

It is sometimes desirable to reverse the direction of travel of theplates. For this purpose they are started from the rear end of thefurnace at a point adjacent to the chimney 30. Being placed upon therollers, the latter are given a direction of rotation contrary to thatfirst assumed, with the resultthat the rollers travel toward the pan 41,moving in the direction of the front of the furnace, and are submergedin the liquid 44. This occurs when the plates are cooled, andconsequently they have little or no tendency to float. The plates arenext passed to the rollers 19 and are carried forward through thefurnace, the heat gradually increasing. By this means each plate isfirst given an oxid in which the atmosphere plays no part, the oxidationoccurring in the bluing-chamber,'where the plate is surrounded by steam.The plate emerging into the atmosphere at a comparatively high degree ofheat now oxidizes under the influence of the atmosphere, with the resultthat it acquires an oxid of a very peculiar kind and one which will notreadily change in color by subsequent oxidation. It will be understoodthat if the furnace is operated as just described the plates go throughwhat is called a toning process. The idea is to give the plates at thestart such a color, due to oxidation, as they would ultimately acquirewhen heated up under atmospheric conditions, so that the plates areafterward unable to change color. Plates made in the manner justdescribed may be subjected to severe use in stove-body work, and whenthey become redhot, whether the heat be uniform or otherwise, theircolor when afterward cooled remains substantially the same for anindefinite length of time. It follows, therefore, that these plates arenot easily disfigured.

I endeavor to heat the plates while passing through the furnace from therear to the front to as high a temperature as they will preferably besubjected to afterward in actual use-as, for instance, when theyafterward form the walls of a stove.

When water is used in the pan 41, the doors 62 and 65 are opened, whilethe door is preferably closed. This causes the heated gases to heat thepan 41 in order to generate the steam in the heating-flue 6. Where it isdesirable to use oil or liquids other than Water in the pan 41, thebutterfly-valves 62 and 65 are closed and the door 60 opened. Thiscauses the gases of combustion in passing through the heating-chamber togo through the bypass flue 5'7, and thus avoid heating the pan 41. Thepan is thus kept comparatively cool. When this is done, steam isadmitted through a pipe 47 by turning the valve 47', with which saidpipe is provided. (See Fig. 1.) This valve is of course closed whenwater is used in the pan 41, and consequently when pan 41 and when thetravel of the plates are forward or backward, as above described, theshield 46 of the cooling-chamber always projects into the liquid, andthus effectively seals the rear end of the bluing-chamber and theheating-chamber which merges thereinto.

A baffle-plate 41, made, preferably, of copper and provided with acentral row of per forations 41 is secured within the pan 41 by means ofrivets 41". This baffle-plate is further provided with spacing-lugs 41,provided with upturned portions 41 which may be riveted to the pan 41,as indicated in Fig. 6. The pan 41 is provided with lugs or rests 41whereby it is supported. One of the plates to be operated upon is shownat 41 By means of the baffle-plate 41 the bubbles when formed below thesurface of the liquid 44 are for the main part guidedoutwardly, so as toescape between the lugs 41 By this means comparatively few bubbles comeinto contact with the plate 41 and the latter is thus in a great measureprevented from floating. In other words, the ,bafl'le- 'ilate 41 sodistributes the bubbles as to carry them around the plate 41 Thebaffle-plate 41* being used as above described, any plate 41 naturallytends to keep in the center of the pan.

Ido not limit myself to any particularmeans for admitting steam into therear of the bluing-chamber. Neither do I limit myself to the use ofany'particular fluid in the coolingchamber, nor to any particulardirection in which the rollers may be rotated, nor to any exact mannerin which these rollers are geared together. Neither do I limit myself toany particular group of parts nor to the materials of which any of theparts are constructed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In a furnace, the combination of a heating-chamber,a pan, and a wall disposed adjacent to said pan and provided with aby-pass merging into said heating-chain ber, means for closing saidheating-chamber so as to divert the gases of combustion through saidby-pass, thereby avoiding the heating of said pans.

2. In a furnace, the combination of a heating-chamber, a pan disposedadjacent thereto, a by-pass connected with said heating-chamber andextending around said pan for the purpose of preventing the latter frombeing healted, and means for closing said by-pass at wil 3. In afurnace, the combination of a heating-chamber, a pan disposed adjacentthereto and provided with a liquid normally heated by the gases ofcombustion from said heatingchamber, and means for diverting said gasesof combustion around said pan for the purpose of avoiding heating thesame, at will.

4. In a furnace, the combination of a pan, a heating-chamber forelevating the temperature thereof, doors controllable at will forclosing said heating-chamber so as to avoid heating said pan whendesired, and means for supplying air to said pan for the purpose ofrendering the same cool.

5. In a furnace, the combination of a bluing-chamber, a receptacledisposed adjacent thereto and adapted to contain a liquid, aheating-chamber disposed adjacent to said bluingchamber and to saidreceptacle for heating the same, means for temporarily diverting gasesof combustion from said heating-chamber around said receptacle so as toavoid heating the latter while heating said bluing-chamber, and meansfor supplying steam to said bluingchamber independently of the liquidcontained within said receptacle.

6. In a furnace, the combination of a bluing chamber, rollers forconveying metal plates thereinto, means for supplying steam to saidbluing-chamber, mechanism for cooling said rollers, and means forapplying heat locally to the water condensed by the cooling of saidrollers.

7. In a furnace,the combination of a bluingchamber, rollers forconveying plates therethrough, I-beams for supporting said rollers,means for supplying steam intermediate of said I-beams, mechanism forcooling said rollers, and means for applying local heat to the water ofcondensation produced by cooling said rollers.

8. In a furnace, the combination of a pan adapted to hold a liquid, abluing-chamber disposed adjacent to said pan, rollers mounted withinsaid pan, and a baffle-plate submerged beneath the surface of saidliquid and located below said rollers.

9. In a furnace, the combination of a pan adapted to hold a liquid, abluing-chamber disposed adjacent to said pan, rollers mounted withinsaid pan, and a baflie-plate mounted within said pan and below the uppersurface of said liquid, said bafl'le-plate being provided with aperturesfor distributing bubbles.

10. The combination of a pan, a bluingchamber connected therewith,steampipes connected with said bluing-chamber so as to heat the samewithout materially heating said pan, and means for conveying platesthrough said bluing-chamber and through said pan.

11. The combination of a pan adapted to contain a liquid, abluing-chamber connected therewith, means for introducing steam intosaid bluing-chamber, dampers for cooling said pan, and mechanism forconveying plates through said bluing-chamber and through said pan.

12. The combination of a pan adapted to contain a liquid, aplurality ofrollers mounted within said pan, and disposed in the general form of thearc of a circle, a baffle-plate mounted within said pan and below saidrollers, said baffle-plate having also substantially the general form ofthe arc of a circle, a bluing-chamber connected with said pan, means forintroducing steam into said bluing-chamber, and mechanism for conveyingplates relatively to said pan and to said bluing-chamber.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARRY HOMER GOODSELL.

Witnesses:

D. P. TROUT, JAMES J. ARTMAN.

